Life Lately

Day 15 of Blogtember: life lately.

I've sort of written a couple life lately posts in the last week or so... shame on me for not thinking ahead to today's post topic! But life, lately... is good. Really, really good. I am happy. Our house isn't ready yet, or anywhere near ready, but they started bricking the outside last week, and dropped off all the drywall, which was encouraging. Then it failed a few insulation inspections and it rained for like 50035973513 days, so of course more delays, more delays, more delays.

But I have my little family and I have my passion for the work I'm doing right now, and we've been blessed with our first set of incredibly beautiful fall mornings, and that is just a breath of fresh air.   There have been movies and popcorn and cuddling and date nights and coffee in bed each morning and new rules going forward to show love with conduct instead of just words. It's a good plan, and it's been working, and our lives are happier for it.

Hope you have a great Monday!

*Prior Blogtember link-ups are missing at the moment, but should be back online soon!

COMFORT

Today's Blogtember prompt: React to this term: comfort.

Oh, comfort. My life has not been comfortable in some areas lately. I'd rather not go into detail, but trust me on that one. There have been moments where everything comfortable for me has been threatened, has felt destroyed, has been in question. But so far I’ve learned that the times I’ve been most uncomfortable have also been the times I achieved the most growth in my life and in my relationships. Comfort is not something we should seek exclusively. Where is the adventure in that? Where is the becoming-better?  If you find the only decisions you’re ever making are comfortable ones, there may be some reevaluating in order.

It’s interesting that I would pick this particular prompt for this particular day in September, some weeks ago when I made the list. Interesting, indeed.

Comfort is a nice feeling, but you’d never know what it means to lie in a truly soft place unless you’d also experienced the opposite. Be grateful for discomfort in your life, as well as comfort, because they really are two sides of the same coin, you know?

That's about the best I can come up with, for a Friday. :)

Tell us about what comfort means to you in the linkup below today's featured SOML sponsors... :)

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Miss Shanna writes a fabulous blog called Because Shanna Said So, and if you haven't heard of her yet, well... you might want to check and see if you're under a large rock! ;) Shanna is a wife and mama to two beautiful girls, an Austinite, and her blog features stories from her life and lots and lots of fantastic fashion inspiration. First get to know her a little better here, then browse some of her style posts here. You will fall in love with this lovely southern lady, I guarantee it. 

Blog | Facebook | Twitter

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Stunningly pretty Anna writes a blog called Happy Medley, and her story is quite unique. This lovely lady was born and raised in Russia, but her family moved to the states when she was a bit older - with only 8 suitcases to their name! Anna learned English, met a fellow Russian guy and started a family (how cute are they?), and she now writes a life and style blog full of "ideas for a happy and simple life." Drop in and say hello! :)

Blog | Bloglovin

HAPPY FRIDAY!

A little bit of fiction

Blogtember Day 12 - Creative writing day: write a (very short) fictional story that starts with this sentence: "To say I was dreading the dinner party would be the understatement of the century."

It turns out that my story today kind of sucked, but after I'd written a couple paragraphs and realized it sucked, I was already sick of the topic and also by that point in need of some Viagra for writers to help with a little performance anxiety. Also, if you don't like the F word, you probably shouldn't read this. I try to keep that word out of my blog, but hey, it found its way into my short story, oops.

Also, wasn't this fun? It reminded me that I really enjoy writing stories and all the possibilities of it. This is the first fictional thing I've written in a loooong time, and I absolutely want to keep after it and hone that skill, because it definitely needs honing. Can't wait to read everyone else's! And please don't worry about it being perfect. None of us are trying to get this 'ish published, it's just for fun. ;) Happy Thursday...

*couldn't find source, please let me know if you know where this image originated!

To say I was dreading the dinner party would be the understatement of the century. If I wasn’t so damn cheap, I’d just not go, but at $450.00 a ticket, I planned to at least get a meal out of my humiliation, while of course giving all the slap-dick wives something to chit chit about during their next tennis match.  We’ll call that my gift to society. Gossip fodder. Glad I could at least contribute something.

As I dabbed on makeup and stuffed extra padding into my bra, I made a valiant effort not to think about King Henry, as I liked to call him, since didn’t one of the Henrys kill off his wives or something? Fucking Henrys. They’re all the same.  It’s funny, because while I was busy NOT thinking about him, my body was still having a physical reaction to the fact that he would be there tonight. You know, the ol’ pounding heart, cold sweat, and unsteady hand trick. Ridiculous. I have nothing to prove to these people, and as far as Henry goes, I figured it’d be unlikely we even run into each other at all. But if we do, I’d be ready.  If we do, I’d be on his mind all night, I was going to make sure of that.

By 7:55 it was dusky and nearly dark in the house, and as I pushed a sparkly earring into my ear, I peered out the lace curtains of my front window. A shiny black Lexus waited there at the curb outside the townhouse, exactly where and when it should be, and yet somehow its presence seemed to solidify my fate and/or pound the proverbial nail in my coffin. My heart dropped into my stomach with no warning. Why didn’t I just give up my ticket? Why didn’t I just not go? It’s a charity dinner, after all. Charity! I could just write this off as a selfless donation and call it a day. But who are we kidding. These things are never selfless. They’re an excuse to show off how much you’re making and who you’re fucking. Of course, I’d be showing off none of those things, so my presence there would be laughable at best.  But it seemed like defeat, to not go. I’m not sure which would give them more to talk about, being there and looking happy, composed, and amazing, or not being there and letting Henry win.

I pushed open the heavy front door and stepped out into the night.

Only photos (a cop out)

Today's Blogtember prompt is only photos. I realize that this is a complete cop-out, but instead of photos from my own life today, I'm going to post photos I've recently taken for my business, since it's certainly consumed my life and my camera as of late. Hope you enjoy... :)

Moments

Day 11 of Blogtember is simply a memory you'd love to relive.

And you know, I've been thinking hard about this one, and the conclusion I've come to is kind of eye opening. If I could relive a memory, it wouldn't be one of our amazing trips to Hawaii or New York or South America, or the time I lived in Germany as a child, or even a moment on my wedding day or something obvious like that.

No. I would relive a family dinner, sitting opposite my Grandma and listening to her stories. I would relive a long, tight hug, and the way she smelled and how soft her skin was. I would relive the laughter when she scoffed at a photo I took of her, and said she looked "too old" or "too wrinkly." I would relive moments with Edd, the time he told me he always wanted a daughter, the time I almost crushed him with an uncharacteristic-for-our-relationship hug when he came home from the hospital after another surgery, another scare, another close brush with death. I'd relive simple moments with people I love. And it's so eye opening to realize that those are the moments I'd choose, because they happen every day, and we take them for granted. Inspires me to slow down, experience, and enjoy the people in my life and the important things. Because people really are the important things.

Read a little more about Edd here

Read a little more about my Grandma here

What about you? What memory would you relive? (And don't worry, no one will judge you if you chose that trip to Disney or something!) ;)

$50 Hazel & Olive giveaway (+ a Photography Concentrate discout code!)

Howdy folks, and happy Tuesday. Today's giveaway comes courtesy of one of my favorite online shops, Hazel & Olive! I've worn it proudly here and here, if you recall. ;) Today a $50 gift certificate to the store is up for grabs, which will buy you just about anything you'd like. (most items are a steal at under $40!)

Also, the Photography Concentrate tutorial prize pack winner has been chosen and emailed, but the kind couple behind this awesome site is offering up SOML readers an exclusive 30% discount on all tutorials through September 21st (this Saturday!) with the code SOML30, for those of you who may have been sad about not winning. ;)  Just keep in mind that the field to enter the discount code is on the second checkout screen, and if you are paying by Paypal, you will first be transferred there to log in and then transferred back to the PC site where you can enter the discount code. Thanks, Rob & Lauren, for being so generous!

Now enter for your chance to win free loot from Hazel & Olive below, and have a fantastic day. :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Love letters to two dear friends

Blogtember topic for the day: Write a public love letter to someone in your life. (It doesn't necessarily need to be romantic.)

Today I found that there are two ladies I really wanted to write to - both are so special to me and have been so impactful in my life. Here are my letters...

Dear Megan,

First of all, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BEAUTIFUL! You're 27 today, an age I know you've dreaded for some silly reason, but don't worry, I'll be there with you in just a couple more months. I bet it won't be so bad. :)

I wanted to thank you today for 11-ish years of loyal friendship. You and I have known each other through so many clunky and awkward stages of life - the end of high school, all of college, several boyfriends, big life changes like marriage and moving and the death of loved ones and redefining who we are after school and after we both worked at that same little restaurant for weirdly lengthy amounts of our life, and moving into new homes and thinking about babies and planning for the future and worrying about getting older. We had so many Friday nights and Saturday or Sunday mornings together, bitching about nasty customers and loving on old people and rolling in the tips and late nights at Chili's and the movies when we had to be back up in four more hours for the next shift. We've been friends through all of that, though you've always been more constant and reliable than me, which is part of your personality as a Caregiver, I now see. Thank you for being my friend through it all, even when we got on each other's nerves, which is bound to happen over the course of 11 years... ;) One thing is for sure, I never stop loving you, respecting you, and admiring you for your wonderful heart. Cannot wait to see what the future holds for us both. It's always nice to walk through life with a friend, isn't it? Hope today and year 27 are beautiful, just like you. :)

Love, love, love,

Jenni

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Dear Kristin,

I'm not even sure where to start on this letter - it's funny, because we've had our ups and downs in this weird online/offline friendship, but one thing that remains constant is that I always have so much fondness and warmth in my heart for you, and I'm always so thankful you're my friend. You've said before that you feel out of place in this world, like an outsider sometimes, but I disagree, and I think you belong very much and add so much beauty, specifically to anyone who is lucky enough to be close to you. You've inspired me endlessly with the warmth of your beautiful home and spirit, the way you care for people (the way you've cared for me), the care you take for the small details of your world (you know how God-awful I am with small details, so I find this particularly inspiring), and the fresh perspective you always give me and which always surprises me in pleasant and helpful ways. On more than one occasion you've given me advice that was exactly what I needed to hear and saved my life in different ways, and I've appreciated our relationship of accountability, even when it seemed like I didn't. For people like me, accountability can be extremely annoying but nonetheless extremely important. I've loved growing closer to you over the last year in particular, and I hope that only continues. I respect and admire you more than you know, and I'm so proud of all you continue to accomplish. 

Lots and lots of love,
Jenni